Jacanas aka Lotus Birds, Lily Trotters or Jesus Birds
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The Jacanas are long-legged marsh birds belonging to the group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae.
Distribution & Habitat: They are found worldwide within the tropical zone, inhabiting freshwater ponds, the margins of lakes, swamps and lagoons where it feeds on insects, small mollusks and seeds of aquatic plants.
Eight species, placed in six genera, are found in both the New and the Old World tropics. There are 2 species in the Americas; 3 species in Africa and 3 species in the Far East down to Australia with 9 subspecies in Central America and 3 subspecies in Australia. Most species are sedentary, but the Pheasant-tailed Jacana migrates from the north of its range into peninsular India and southeast Asia.
Description: Jacanas are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They resemble the common moorhen and other rails, such as coots and gallinules.
They have a sharp spur on the elbow of the wing, which is a formidable fighting weapon.
Their most distinguishing features are their long toes -- indeed the longest toes of any bird - and the longest claws on the reverse toe. The claw of the lotus bird is 7cm. The combined length, from tip of reverse toe to tip of forward toe, in this bird is 20cm. In the lesser jacana, smaller than the sparrow, the reverse claw is 4cm.
Its unusually long toes and claws allow it to run over floating vegetation and lily pads thus accounting for the name lily trotter. As they appear to be walking on water, the Jamaican refer to the Northern Jacanas as the 'Jesus birds.'
These same toes make walking on land ungainly and, though occasionally seen on land, this is a rare event. he sexes in all jacana have the same coloration. The female is larger than the male. In most species both sexes have a dark brown or black plumage, a yellow wattle at the base of the bill and greenish-yellow wing feathers that are conspicuous during flight.
The females are larger than the males; the latter, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes take responsibility for incubation, and some species (notably the Northern Jacana) are polyandrous (meaning they form stable unions with more than one male) . However, adults of both sexes look identical, as with most shorebirds.
The annual molt of the primaries proceeds medially-laterad in the Central American jacana and laterally-mediad in smaller jacana species; the rest of the species lose all their wing feathers simultaneously which makes them unable to fly.
Diet:
Food consists of insects, small mollusks, seeds of aquatic plants picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface.
Breeding: The nest is a mass of floating vegetation and the male incubates the eggs and cares for the young. The average four eggs in each clutch. Te eggs have a glossy lacquer-like surface, its color ranging from yellow to nut-brown with, except for the pheasant-tailed, a scribbled or speckled design. Incubation period is 22-24 days. The chicks, covered in dense down with camouflage design at hatching, are able to get about on their own swimming and diving within a few hours.
Clutch size:
| Species | Female weight average (g) |
Clutch weight | Egg size L x W (mm) |
Chicks carried under the wing |
| African Jacana - Actophilornis africana | 232 | 36 | 33 x 23 | Yes |
| Bronze-winged Jacana - Metopidius indicus | <210 | 48 | 36 x 25 | Yes |
| Comb-crested Jacana - Irediparra gallinacea | 130 | 28 | 30 x 22 | Yes |
| Lesser Jacana - Microparra capensis | 41 | 18 | 25 x 18 | ? |
| Madagascar Jacana - Actophilornis albinucha | 239 | 51 | 37 x 25 | Yes |
| Northern Jacana - Jacana spinosa | 145 | 33 | 30 x 23 | No |
| Pheasant-tailed Jacana - Hydrophasianus chirurgus | 231 | 56 | 35 x 28 | No |
| Wattled Jacana - Jacana jacana | 143 | 39 | 30 x 23 | No |
References:
- Tarboton-W-Rk, spects of the breeding biology of the African jacana, OSTRICH 63(4), December 1992: 141-157, illustr.
- Fry-C-H, the jacanid radius and Microparra a neotenic genus, GERFAUT 73(2) 1983: 173-183, illustr.
- Birds of The World Hamlyn
- Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia Vol 8 Van Nostrand Reinhold
- Roberts Birds of South Africa Cape & Transvaal, 1970 Cape Town
Sub-species:
- African Jacanas / Lily-Trotters (Actophilornis africana)
- Bronze-winged Jacanas (Metopidius indicus)
- Comb-crested Jacanas / Lotusbirds (Irediparra gallinacea)
- Lesser / Smaller Jacanas
- Northern Jacanas (Jacana spinosa)
- Wattled Jacanas (Jacana jacana)
- Pheasant-tailed Jacanas (Hydrophasianus chirurgus)
Relevant Web Resources: Monterey Bay (Great info & photos) ... "The Bird That Walks On Water" - An article by Warwick Tarboton extracted from Africa - Birds & Birding Vol 1 No 3 pp 22-30 ... Jacana Photos (Birding Forum) ... San Diego Zoo
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